At the State of Union Address last night a woman in the gallery could clearly, and modestly, be seen breastfeeding her baby. I literally had a Gasp! How wonderful was this? Right there, in Public, couldn’t be more Public, and it was thrilling!!!

Breastfeed in Public when and if you need. It is a normal thing for us to do for our babies, so go ahead.

It is good for our kids to see us Breastfeeding in Public. Gives them a chance to realize breastfeeding is a natural way to give babies nourishment and prepares our children, daughters AND sons for when they will be considering baby feeding options. Yeah Momma!!!

AS SOON AS YOU KNOW YOU ARE EXPECTING TWINS OR MORE, see if your community offers any multiple-birth prenatal classes and both you and your partner SIGN UP RIGHT AWAY. Your healthcare provide should be able to refer you to any. DO NOT wait until later in your pregnancy as you never know if/when you will be placed on bedrest, making taking a class impossible. A multiple-birth pregnancy is NOT like a expecting a singleton and singleton classes are traditionally taken much later in that pregnancy. A multiple-birth prenatal class needs to be taken as early as possible so that you learn things about your pregnancy and how to act accordingly, e.g. nutrition and how much you need to be eating; signs and symptoms of premature labour, and so much more. This is not meant to scare you, but to empower you! Knowledge can be translated into power and knowing as much as possible about carrying twins, triplets or more WELL BEFORE they arrive just makes sense. If you do not know if there are any classes in your community and live in Canada 🇨🇦️, check in with Multiple Births Canada 🇨🇦️ at http://www.multiplesbirthscanada.org They have a list of many of the Support Chapters across Canada. 🇨🇦 Also check out my own Site at http://www.jumelle.ca There is in depth FREE information on it as well.

AS SOON AS YOU KNOW you are expecting twins, triplets or more, there are some important steps to be taken. Here goes:

-Find out if the babies are monozyotic (identical) because you need to know as soon as is possible if any of the babies have Twin–to-Twin-Transfusion Syndrome (TTTS). EVEN WITHIN TRIPLETS, QUADRUPLETS OR MORE. If yes, you will be under the umbrella of “High Risk” and both you and the babies will be followed very closely until birth. Find out all you can about TTTS so that you are informed and know what questions to ask of your healthcare professionals. My Site at http://www.jumelle.ca has an in depth article on TTTS.

-Join your local Twin and Triplet support chapter. They will have a ton of information to share and it is nice to be with others making the same journey. In Canada, Multiple Births Canada (MBC) has a full list of all multiple-birth support Chapters across the country. They can be found at http://www.multiplebirthscanada.org

-Sign-up for a multiple-birth prenatal class in your community if they have one and both partners should attend. You will get information pertinent for having twins or more. SINGLETON PRENATAL CLASSES ARE LIMITED IN PERTINENT INFORMATION AND HAVING ONE AT A TIME IS NOT THE SAME AS HAVING TWO OR MORE AT A TIME.

-If you are considering breastfeeding your babies, sign up with a knowledgeable Lactation Consultant. You will not be disappointed.

-Learn as much as you can ahead of time before your babies arrive so you are better prepared and receive support and resources focused on your pregnancy.

-If you are stuck at any time, ASK FOR HELP/SUPPORT. You are not alone. So many reliable people are here to help

The following is general information only. If you have any questions about any aspect of your health, please consult your physician.

Mastitis and/or Blocked Ducts are obstacles many, but not all, nursing women face once, or maybe several times, while nursing. Both are caused by babies or pumping not completely draining the breast(s). Here are some ideas on how to handle them.

Mastitis

Is a bacterial infection of the breast that can occur in breastfeeding mothers. It is different from a blocked duct, which has similar symptoms. A blocked duct feels painful, is swollen, red and a mass can usually be felt within the breast. Mastitis has these same symptoms with the addition of fever and greater pain. It is easy to get the two mixed up. The added sign of a fever is the key that it is mastitis. It is important to see a physician if you have fever, breast pain (in one or both breasts) and redness for more than 24 hours, as antibiotics will need to be prescribed. Once antibiotics are prescribed improvement will be noticed within 2-5 days. Continue your course of antibiotics until they are finished or there is a chance the mastitis will return.

You can and should continue to breastfeed. There is no need to pump and dump. Mastitis does not harm the babies and continuing to breastfeed will speed up the healing process. If you cannot put babies to breast because it is too painful, try pumping as best you can and bottle feed the milk to the babies. This will also help keep your supply up.

Blocked Ducts

These (there may be one or more) can also be very painful, skin becomes “hot” and a lump(s) can be felt when massaging the breast. For treatment of these, hard, deep massage at the point of the clog while baby is breastfeeding can be used. It is painful but the only way to pass the clog is through massage to move it along, and then baby nursing will clear the duct. The released clog will not hurt the baby. There is no need to pump and dump with blocked ducts either.

Some ways to relieve swelling for both Mastitis and Blocked Ducts:

-Heat applied to the affected areas helps healing; -Massage in a hot shower; -Rest helps with infection; -Fever helps fight off infection; -Medication (aspirin, ibuprofen) for pain can be helpful; and -Two external ways to help with swelling and hotness, 1) thinly sliced raw potatoes in the bra, and 2) cold cabbage leaves directly from the fridge in the bra helps sooth. Believe it, they work!!

Multiple births have been in the news quite a bit the past few months and it is difficult to tell if that is a good thing or a bad thing (think the California woman who gave birth to octuplets and Jon and Kate). Having multiples is what we commonly refer to in the business as a “hard happiness.” Of course there are logistic challenges such as carrying them, house is too small, so is the car, emotional and mental issues, but the truth is these children are also a blessing. Double the laughter, double the joy, double the hugs, double the kisses (or triple or quadruple…..) and the family may have other children as well. These are definitely busy households but that doesn’t mean that life is always hectic or unorganized. Sure those days exist but there is less stress on finding playmates for socialization, there are enough players for lots of games, story time can be precious, and bath time memorable. Not to mention the cute and fun things that kiddies say and do to light up your life, e.g. “what part of the pig do the lampchops come from?” Or when helping to fold laundry, my 3-year old held up my bra and said “Here’s your bra-ccoli!” Or when one asked, “How far do the aids go?” Asking for clarifications, she said, “You know, First Aid, Second Aid…..” Comedy writers couldn’t write better lines.

What’s this got to do with multiple-births? Well, sometimes I think society focuses too much on how many and not enough on the treasures children are. Sure we need to take prenatal classes geared towards multiple births, and do some reading and preparation for what we can expect when we need to juggle all those babies, but it is so important not to also remember what joy they bring as well.

So my husband and I just celebrated our 30th Wedding Anniversary and our twins + older sibling (read 3 under two years) did not cause us to divorce but did exactly the opposite and made sure we worked together and made a team.